FIG. 1 depicts graphically an example of a common type of a tray feeding system for feeding trays from a tray denester device 101 to a buffer conveyor 102, and from the buffer conveyor to a tray conveyor 103 where items are placed into the trays by a tray filling means, in this case robots 104, 105. In such systems it is of outmost importance that the trays on the tray conveyor 103 are arranged closely together to maximize the throughput of the system, and more importantly it is crucial that the transfer of the trays from the denester device 101 to the tray conveyor 103 via the buffer conveyor occurs fast and without any disturbance, e.g. trays falling off the buffer conveyor 102.
However, due to how light the trays are, e.g. ranging from few grams to tens of grams, only a minor failure can cause a major interruption in the tray feeding, e.g. such as shown here where two trays collide causing an interruption and in most cases requires a manual intervening in fixing this failure. This does not only mean extra costs due to labor but also is reflected in a less throughput due to the lost time.
There is thus a need for a more reliable and stable tray feeding system that not only reduces or even eliminates the manual labor but also has a higher throughput.